Precious Memories
Posted: Friday, November 27, 2009
by Robert Ogden
http://www.poemplaques.com
My married daughter called me a few days before Thanksgiving. She told me her young married couples Sunday school class had been sharing the traditions their families had at holiday time and her contribution was the treasure hunts I used to make up for our family. She wondered if I would make up another treasure hunt for her boys to enjoy when they all came over on Thursday.
I knew I would be glad to reinstate this tradition to bless her and her younguns, but I also realized that clues written for a two year old and a four year old had to be crafted differently than for the teens of my past adventures. Pre-elementary, my dear Watson.
What now started as a lone quest to revive a past tradition soon became a joint family venturegrandma, uncle, and two auntsto make this holiday a time with special memories. While the task of writing and placing the clues remained with me, suggestions from my wife ahead of time and helpful guidance of the aunts and uncle during the actual hunt built the excitement to a new height.
Since the grandsons could not read, I designed ten clues that named actual locations around the house, spots with which they were familiar. The previous teen generation had had the additional challenge of having to interpret the clues to discover the succeeding clue's locale.
I used three-by-five cards for each clue, and each clue revealed the location of the next clue culminating in the discovery of the treasure. At the outset we carefully and repeatedly showed a sample card to the boys so they would know what to look for. Then the fun began.
Clue number one: Grandma' s Puzzle
We leave a thirty inch square card table set up in our living room so my wife can continually work on her jigsaw puzzles. The border of the current puzzle was complete, so I stuck the first clue card in the middle and buried it under loose pieces. As the search commenced and with the help of the entourage of aunts, uncle, grandma, and mom; the pieces were slowly brushed away and the first clue was revealed enough for the boys to pick it out and snatch it up for display. Then, after the cheers, it was back to grandpa for the next clue.
They now knew what they were looking for. I had worried about their literal view of things and wanted to anticipate any blips on the radar, so I was relatively at easeuntil clue two.
Clue number two: Uncle Nathan's Pillow
As I read the clue aloud in the living room, the boy's whirled around and, instead of running down the hall to Uncle Nathan's bedroom, they began looking in the living room. The oldest looked at pillows on the couch and the youngest went back to grandma's puzzle, the source of his previous success.
Chagrined, I watched the entourage step in and ask the boy's, "Where's Uncle Nathan's room?" Away they raced and soon apprehended the second clue.
Clue number three: Peter and the Wolf
The next clue was in the jacket of this hot VHS and off they raced to find it. They watched this ancient Disney creation each of their last two or three visits here, so they knew right where it was stacked in the adjoining family room.
As their dad and I listened from our living room command post, we heard the group cheer the clue's discovery followed by a short pause and then a hearty group laugh. The youngest boy had the video in his hand, oblivious that the all-important clue had fallen out onto the floor, and was proclaiming proudly, "I got Peter and the Wolf!"
I began to see what was happening. A magic window of time was opening in our lives, and a precious memory was developing. We were actually experiencing it and, like a dream, had the realization that we were in it. Each of us adults was traveling back in time and getting a glimpse through these boys of "Christmas past"just like Scroogeand how limited, literal, and focused on self we were at that age. It was to be a brief trip, everyone knew, and each one scrambled to get his camera while Grandpa reloaded the boys with their next clue.
Clue number four: Potty
I will only say that the plastic see-through bag containing a mixture of water and mashed brownies placed in the toilet wrought expressions and reactions worthy of the newly formed paparazzi. To his credit, the oldest boy was able to easily extract the clue after being told that the "brownies" were really just brownies. My daughter, their mom, reminded me that when she had had a similar clue experience years ago that the bag had been placed in the diaper pail. I felt a glow inside.
The remaining clues provided more of the same wired excitement giving each of us the satisfaction of meaningful time spent with each other. But one last comment cemented the treasure hunt's place in our memories. It can right at the end.
The final clue: Clothes Dryer
The treasure was a dozen Dunkin Donuts. The big flat box required a sizeable space to hide it in, so I stuck it in the dryer where the boys could access it. The roar went up upon acquiring the "gold" and there followed a short pause. The boys' dad and I sat in the living room splitting our sides when his oldest son caught us off guard by asking everyone, "Where's the next clue?"
Robert Ogden is a Christian school teacher living in Central Florida. His website is http://www.poemplaques.com
This Article has been viewed 267 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)How fun and what a great tradition! Good ideas for bonding and memories. MarijoThanks, Marijo. I still hear thank you's from my kids 3 days later.
That's a great story...but the important thing is passing the tradition down...if you keep it up...then your grandkids will pass it down...and so on.ThanksRichAgreed. I see now that my kids want that to happen, and I'm glad.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.